Explosion kills 16 coal miners at Black Diamond on November 6, 1910.

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On November 6, 1910, an explosion kills 16 coal miners in the Pacific Coast Co. Lawson Mine at Black Diamond, located in eastern King County. Because the slope caved in on the miners, five of their bodies were never recovered. The cause of the accident could not be determined.

The dead were identified as follows:

Name

Age

Nationality

Family

Family At

Daily Wage

Julius Persyn

30

Italian

Wife, Child

Lawson

$3.80

Fred Setti

29

Italian

Wife, Child

Black Diamond

$3.15

Cezar Bael

...

Belgian

Wife, Child

Lawson

$3.15

Joe Kronenberg

30

Polish

Wife, Child

Old Country

$3.15

Mactili Fanstina

33

Italian

Wife, 3 Child.

Black Diamond

$3.15

C. Biagi

28

Italian

Wife

Old Country

$3.15

Julius Cappiati

30

Italian

Wife

Old Country

$3.15

Frank Gardini

24

Italian

No

$3.15

Isadore Gardini

22

Italian

No

$3.15

Dom. Gregois

24

Italian

No

$3.15

Albert Fontana

25

Italian

No

$3.15

Frank Vergan

23

Italian

No

$3.15

Mat Galope

19

Austrian

No

$3.15

Dave Lunden

34

Finn

No

Fire Boss

Oscar Bael

...

Belgian

No

$3.15

Girili Maes

33

Belgian

No

Boiler Man

Rescuers used four of the new Draeger oxygen units supplied by the Mine Rescue Station at the University of Washington. The Mine Rescue Station was established with contributions from mines in Washington in March 1910 after a demonstration of the equipment at the 1909 Alaska-Yukon-Pacific Exposition. The station trained mine workers to use the equipment in smoke and gas filled mine tunnels.

The Inspector of Coal Mines reported that although the number of fatalities had increased, the following improvements to the industry had taken effect:

a law raising the minimum age for underground workers from 14 to 16;

a law raising the minimum age for outside workers from 12 to 14;

an eight hour work day.

Exterior of Lawson Mine after the explosion on November 6, 1910 that killed 16 miners, Black Diamond, November 1910

Courtesy Black Diamond Historical Society

Early mine rescue gear

Courtesy Black Diamond Historical Society

Sources:

Report of the State Inspector of Coal Mines for the Biennial Period ending December 31, 1910, (Olympia: State Printer, 1911), 7, 63, 75-78.

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